Clock begins to tick as 98 smart cities identified

Clock begins to tick as 98 smart cities identified

Amid an outcry of poor civic amenities in cities bursting at seams, work on the Smart cities with state of the art facilities-- automatic traffic lights, sprawling solar panels dotting neat dwellings, clean green campuses, digitalized working, round the clock vigil through close circuit cameras, has picked up momentum. Visions are coming on drawing boards and future 98 smart cities identified. Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir have to pick up one each soon to touch 100 cities mark.             With the announcement of future smart cities list, the clock has started ticking. The Narendra Modi Government is pursuing the smart city project to give it a desired momentum with copious funds. Allocations plans have already been announced. In a related development, after recent meltdown in the Chinese financial markets and its cascading impact the world over, focus on infrastructure activities has increased. Development, especially roads and highways, would have a multiplier effect and boost rural jobs. Experts say the infrastructure is the backbone of the smart city mission which is all set to get boost due to these developments.             Finance Minister Arun  Jaitley recently said India can act as one of the “other engines” of world economic growth with China changing to slower gears. "So the world needs other engines to carry the growth process. And in a slowdown environment in the world, an economy which can grow at 8-9 per cent like India certainly has viable shoulders to provide the support to the global economy," Mr Jaitley said. He said the priority of the National Democratic Alliance Government is to ease the business environment for the global investors from the Central government, down to states and local bodies. Land acquisition, corruption, private investment with greater space for public are the main challenges which, experts say, must be tackled to ensure desired results in a stipulated period with political consensus to realize the mission.             The list of cities, unveiled recently by Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu after a nationwide "competition" between states includes Varanasi, Allahabad, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Bareilly and Agra from Uttar Pradesh, Tiruchirapalli, Thanjavur, Salem, Vellore, Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai from Tamil Nadu, Nashik, Thane, Solapur, Nagpur, Navi Mumbai, Aurangabad and Pune from Maharashtra, and Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior and Ujjain from Madhya Pradesh. It also encompasses Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Baroda in Gujarat, and Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur in Bihar.             Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have the maximum number of 12 cities under the list followed by Maharashtra with 10, Madhya Pradesh with seven, Karnataka and Gujarat with six each, Rajasthan with four, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab with three each. Of those chosen for the project, 24 are capital cities, as many as business hubs and 18 cultural centers. The two remaining two smart cites aspirants will be decided in due course as J&K sought more time to decide on its choices for the project and UP has reported that Meerut and Raibareilly have been tied in the valuation and this is to be decided which will be the selected one.             The smart cities aspirants had been chosen through an intra-state competition. Each state and Union Territory has evaluated all the urban local bodies in respective states and Union territories, based on existing service levels, financial and institutional capacities and past track record and reforms and nominated the top scores, as per the slots given to each state and UT. Eight smart cities nominees have a population of one lakh and below, while 35 cities and towns between one to five lakh. There are 21 cities, with a population ranging between five to 10 lakh, 28 cities above 10 lakh and below 25 lakh. A set of five cities are in the population range of 25 to50 lakh.             Four cities- Chennai, Greater Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Greater Mumbai-have population of above 50 lakh. Population statistics suggest that 64 towns and cities are in the category of small to medium, while the remaining 34 are large ones. Nine capital cities- Itanagar, Patna, Shimla, Bengaluru, Daman, Thiruvananthapuram , Puducherry, Gangtok and Kolkata could not be nominated for smart cities development. “In one sense, this non-inclusion goes to prove that the selection of first stage of competition was not swayed by the status or importance of cities and the selection was objective and as per the stipulated criteria’’, Mr. Naidu clarified.             Names were finalized after competitive selection process taking into consideration all parameters including job opportunities and enhanced economic activities. Strategies are being drawn to involve locals in evolving smart solutions. Locals will be involved in urban interventions. Declaration of names, however, has caused acrimony among those left out in the 98 cities list. The firming up of almost all smart city aspirants, the ‘city challenge’ competition has now entered the second stage.             In the next couple of days, the Government will release Rs 2 crore for each of the 98 cities for preparation of smart city plans. The region-wise panels of reputed agencies for assisting smart cities aspirants for preparation of smart city plans have been formed by the urban ministry. In the second stage of the city challenge competition, all smart city plans received by the Urban Development ministry will be evaluated, based on a set of six broad criteria. The top scoring 20 cities in the first round of competition in the second stage will be chosen for financing during this financial year. The remaining will be asked to address the deficiencies identified before participating in the second and the third rounds of competition. Forty cities each will be identified for financing during the second and third rounds.             The Central government proposes to give financial support to Mission to the extent of Rs 48,000 crore over five years. The chosen smarty city will be given Rs 100 crore per city per year over the next five years. Accordingly, the Central government has made a provision of Rs 48000 crore for the next five years for the smart cities mission. The States/UTs and Urban local bodies have to make an equal matching contribution. This in effect means that Central and state governments and ULBs will invest about Rs 1 lakh crore over the next five years for making 100 chosen cities smart.             Smart city plans will be implemented by a special purpose vehicle to be set up for each identified city to enable a focused effort for effective implementation. States/UTs and Urban local bodies will have 50:50 equity in SPV. Private sector can also be roped in with equity with the management control remaining with states/UTs.             Under the Smart cities and the Atal Missions, about 80 per cent of the country’s urban population would be reached out with the objective of enhancing the quality of life, which is the need for the hour. The prime objective of the Smart cities mission is to enhance quality of urban life. Smart cities will have the core infrastructure and will give a quality and decent life to citizens. It will enable a clean environment and provide smart solutions to problems. More than a dozen leading countries have expressed keen interest to associate themselves with this mission. These include the US, UK, France, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, China, Singapore, Israel and Australia.             The smart cities mission seeks to ensure basic infrastructure services to enable a decent quality of life in urban pockets and a clean and sustainable environment and adoption of smart solutions and providing more public spaces to poor.            It will be implemented through areas based approach consisting of retrofitting, re-development, pan city initiatives and development of new cities. The project would herald a qualitative change in the living standards of the lucky residents as it would have clean energy with lush green campuses and good quality of air quotient and speedy but pollution free private and public transport. Even schools will have digitalized facilities to ensure regular monitoring of both teachers and students. The proposed cities will be bereft of slums and industrial units will be organized in the manner to have zero impact on the civic life despite high production in the industrial peaceful units.                         Urban population, according to 2011 census, was about 37 crore accounting for 31 per cent of total population. Currently, 31% of India’s population lives in cities; these cities also generate 63% of the nation’s economic activity. These numbers are rapidly increasing, with almost half of India’s population projected to live in its cities by 2030.             Mr Naidu says the need today is a Smart livable city with transparency & accountability. Revenue generation & mobilization should be the main focus of Urban Local Bodies. He has encouraged the Urban Local Bodies, “Be bold enough to raise user charges.”             A statutory town is one that has a municipal body. There are 4,041 statutory cities/ town as per 2011 records. Out of these, about 500 cities with a population of above one lakh each, are focus of AMRUT. These 500 cities account for 73 per cent of India’s population. Number of cities that can be nominated for AMRUT so far are like this : A&N ( 1), Andhra Pradesh (31), Arunachal Pradesh (1 ),  Assam(7), Delhi( 1), Karnataka( 27), Kerala( 18), Uttar Pradesh (54), WB (28) Maharashtra ( 37), Bihar ( 27), Jharkhand(11) etc. While assigning the 100 smart city slots among states/UTs, geographical equity has been taken in to consideration to ensure that each state/UT gets at least one smart city. Cities nominated by each state will participate in the second stage of the inter city competition among all such 100 cities which a related to prepare smart city plans to be evaluated by the ministry’s panel of experts on a set of laid out criteria.             Pan city components could be interventions like intelligent transport solutions that benefit all residents by reducing commuting time. Both Smart city mission and AMRUT are linked with are virtually biologically linked. AMRUT, entailing an investment of Rs50,000 crore, envisages proper infrastructure services relating to water supply, sewerage, seepage management, storm water drains, transport and development of green spaces and parks with special plans of meeting needs of children.          The Mission inter alia aims at achieving urban reforms such as e-governance, building of professional municipal cadre, devolving funds and functions to urban local bodies, review of building bye laws, improvement in assessment and collection of municipal taxes, credit rating of urban local bodies, energy and water audit and citizen centric urban planning. The AMRUT Mission will be implemented in 500 cities and towns each with a population of one lakh and above. It will also be carried out in some cities situated on stems of main rivers, a few capital cities and important cities located in hilly areas, islands and tourist areas.             The smart city initiative planners have agenda for core infrastructure services like adequate and clean water supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, affordable housing for the poor, power supply, robust IT connectivity, governance, especially-governance, security and safety of inhabitants, well developed health, education services besides sustainable urban development. The Mission inter alia aims at achieving urban reforms such as e-governance, building of professional municipal cadre, devolving funds and functions to urban local bodies, review of building bye laws, improvement in assessment and collection of municipal taxes, credit rating of urban local bodies, energy and water audit and citizen centric urban planning.             A reform matrix with timelines will be circulated to states in the guidelines. Sources said the government has already approved central funding under AMRUT to the projects sanctioned under JNNURM and not completed. JNNURM projects relating to the urban development sanctioned during 2005-2012 and achieved physical progress of fifty per cent availing 50 per cent central assistance released and those sanctioned during 2012-2014 will be supported till March 2017. Accordingly, 102 and 296 projects will get central support for balance funding to complete these projects.             “The Ball is now in the court of states & urban local bodies to take full advantage of this enthusiasm by being appropriately pro-active .The next 10 years are‘ Very crucial’ for rewriting our urban landscape . We can’t afford to miss this opportunity. It is like perform or perish for the states & urban bodies. The Clock has begun to tick.” says Mr Venkaiah Naidu.

‘Focus on Image, Innovation, Initiative and Interaction’: Javadekar

‘Focus on Image, Innovation, Initiative and Interaction’: Javadekar

Environment Minister Addresses Conference of Forest, Wildlife Officers

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Javadekar, today emphasised that forest and wildlife officers must focus on the 4 ‘I’s – Image, Innovation, Initiative and Interaction. Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day Conference of all Principal Chief Conservators of Forests and Wildlife Wardens here today, Shri Javadekar said that maintaining and improving the quality of forests is a major challenge. He said, “We must ensure that degraded forest must be converted into moderately dense forest in 10 years and moderately dense forest must be converted into dense forests in 5 years. To that end, water harvesting and changing some species is a must. Forest research institutes must draw up a distinct plan of improving the quality of each forest, taking the existing flora and climate into consideration”. He laid emphasis on ensuring people’s participation in changing the quality of forests. He also urged the officers to provide solutions to various challenges. The Minister said that a lot of good work is being done and such success stories and initiatives must be highlighted prominently.

The two-day Conference will discuss various issues related to forest and wildlife, such as Forest Conservation Act, Eco Sensitive Zones (ESZs) and minimising human-wildlife conflict. Seventy-five PCCFs and higher officials representing all the 32 States are participating in the Conference.

Shri Javadekar released a report – “Management effectiveness evaluation of National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries in India, 2006-2014”. The agreement to establish the world’s first centre of World Natural Heritage & Training at the Wildlife Institute of India was signed on the occasion. The Union Cabinet had recently given its approval for signing of agreement between UNESCO and the Government of India and had authorised Director General (Forests) and Special Secretary to Government of India to sign this agreement on behalf of the Government of India. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, has initiated a process of decentralisation and empowerment of the member countries of the UNESCO convention. As a part of this process, UNESCO has identified nine countries in the world for establishment of Category 2 centres for protection of cultural heritage. In the field of natural heritage, UNESCO has selected India for the establishment of the world’s first centre of World Natural Heritage Management & Training at the Wildlife Institute of India.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Ashok Lavasa, said that there is a greater need to adhere to the prescribed timelines. He also said that since last year, there has been an increased transparency in the functioning of the Ministry. 

‘Focus on Image, Innovation, Initiative and Interaction’: Javadekar

‘Focus on Image, Innovation, Initiative and Interaction’: Javadekar

Environment Minister Addresses Conference of Forest, Wildlife Officers

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Javadekar, today emphasised that forest and wildlife officers must focus on the 4 ‘I’s – Image, Innovation, Initiative and Interaction. Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day Conference of all Principal Chief Conservators of Forests and Wildlife Wardens here today, Shri Javadekar said that maintaining and improving the quality of forests is a major challenge. He said, “We must ensure that degraded forest must be converted into moderately dense forest in 10 years and moderately dense forest must be converted into dense forests in 5 years. To that end, water harvesting and changing some species is a must. Forest research institutes must draw up a distinct plan of improving the quality of each forest, taking the existing flora and climate into consideration”. He laid emphasis on ensuring people’s participation in changing the quality of forests. He also urged the officers to provide solutions to various challenges. The Minister said that a lot of good work is being done and such success stories and initiatives must be highlighted prominently.

The two-day Conference will discuss various issues related to forest and wildlife, such as Forest Conservation Act, Eco Sensitive Zones (ESZs) and minimising human-wildlife conflict. Seventy-five PCCFs and higher officials representing all the 32 States are participating in the Conference.

Shri Javadekar released a report – “Management effectiveness evaluation of National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries in India, 2006-2014”. The agreement to establish the world’s first centre of World Natural Heritage & Training at the Wildlife Institute of India was signed on the occasion. The Union Cabinet had recently given its approval for signing of agreement between UNESCO and the Government of India and had authorised Director General (Forests) and Special Secretary to Government of India to sign this agreement on behalf of the Government of India. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, has initiated a process of decentralisation and empowerment of the member countries of the UNESCO convention. As a part of this process, UNESCO has identified nine countries in the world for establishment of Category 2 centres for protection of cultural heritage. In the field of natural heritage, UNESCO has selected India for the establishment of the world’s first centre of World Natural Heritage Management & Training at the Wildlife Institute of India.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Ashok Lavasa, said that there is a greater need to adhere to the prescribed timelines. He also said that since last year, there has been an increased transparency in the functioning of the Ministry. 

RBI declares SBI, ICICI Bank systemically important banks

The D-SIB framework requires the RBI to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs every year in August starting from August 2015.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday declared State Bank of India and ICICI Bank as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs). The RBI had issued the framework for dealing with Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) on July 22, 2014.

The D-SIB framework requires the RBI to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs every year in August starting from August 2015, said RBI in a press release.

“The framework also requires that D-SIBs may be placed in four buckets depending upon their Systemic Importance Scores (SISs). Based on the bucket in which a D-SIB is placed, an additional common equity requirement has to be applied to it, as mentioned in the D-SIB framework,” it added.

The D-SIB framework specifies a two-step process of identification of D-SIBs. In the first step, the sample of banks to be assessed for systemic importance has to be decided. The additional Common Equity Tier-1 (CET1) requirements applicable to D-SIBs will be applicable from April 1, 2016 in a phased manner and would become fully effective from April 1, 2019. The additional CET1 requirement will be in addition to the capital conservation buffer, said RBI.

RBI also said that in case a foreign bank having branch presence in India is a Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB), it has to maintain additional CET1 capital surcharge in India as applicable to it as a G-SIB, proportionate to its risk weighted assets (RWAs) in India.

“RBI has named State Bank of India as Domestic Systemically Important Bank as expected.  However, the additional capital requirement of Tier-I capital has been lowered by 20 basis points as compared to draft guidelines.  SBI currently has a much higher level of Tier-I at 9.62 per cent as opposed to 7 per cent required under the current guidelines,” said Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, SBI.

“Given our size and significant presence across the financial sector, it was expected that ICICI Bank would be classified as systemically important, said Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO, ICICI Bank. According to Ms. Kochhar, the bank’s capital adequacy is well in excess of regulatory requirements

The problem with Modi’s ‘Team India’

Not every Indian is equally involved in the Prime Minister’s project of ‘moving the country ahead’. And the real ‘Team India’ that is piloting the nation’s development does not see eye to eye on many issues with vast sections of India’s population.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address this year, though delivered in Hindi, was peppered with English words. Three kinds of English words.

The first kind was as follows — those that were already a part of spoken Hindi, though not quite the norm in formal speech; words such as ‘busy’, ‘injection’, ‘side-effect’, ‘request’, ‘fashion’, etc.

Then there were those that belong to a specific semantic cluster — the world of the market, business, management. To this category belong terms such as ‘work culture’, ‘financial inclusion’, ‘productivity’, ‘good governance’, ‘transparency’, ‘parameter’, ‘dimension’, ‘pyramid, ‘brand ambassador’, etc.

Closely allied to the linguistic milieu of the second is the third set of English usages: ‘Start-up India, Stand-up India’; ‘per drop, more crop’; and ‘Team India’.

In fact, ‘Team India’ occurred no less than 32 times in his speech of 85 minutes — more than any other catchphrase in either English or Hindi.

What is interesting is that, notwithstanding his Hindu-nativist, cultural nationalist pretensions, Mr. Modi settled on an English term to communicate his vision of the Indian nation as a team.

Why didn’t he use a Hindi equivalent for ‘Team India’? Is it because ‘Bharat Dal’ does not have the same ring as ‘Team India’? What’s more likely, it could be because the Hindi equivalents do not pack the same conceptual or ideological content that the English ‘team’ does.

Dynamics of a team

But what exactly is a team? What are the implications of imagining the nation as a team, as Mr. Modi did in his speech?

The dictionary defines a ‘team’ as “a set of people constituting one side in a competitive game”, or “a set of people working in combination.”

Three aspects stand out as integral to a team: competitiveness, being together, and work. Management textbooks typically add two more: a formal structure, and a purpose.

A team, then, is a group of people who work together in a structured way for a purpose that involves doing better than other teams. Armed with this understanding, we can try to answer the questions. Can a nation be a team? If yes, what then is the purpose of ‘Team India’?

In his speech, while introducing the concept of ‘Team India’, Mr. Modi made two points: one, that the country is “moving ahead” only because of ‘Team India’; two, that ‘Team India’ comprises our entire population of 125 crore people.

The two statements are patently untrue and mutually contradictory. Not every Indian is equally involved in Mr. Modi’s project of “moving the country ahead”. And the real ‘Team India’ that is piloting the nation’s development does not see eye to eye on many issues with vast sections of the 125 crore people that, as per Mr. Modi’s claim, comprise ‘Team India’.

To take an obvious example, Mr. Modi in his speech announced his intent to cure the “poison of casteism” with the “nectar of development”. But we are yet to hear the Prime Minister suggest that one Mr. Hardik Patel, agitating in Gujarat for reservations for his caste, should drop his demands in exchange for the ‘nectar of development’. After all, Mr. Patel and lakhs of his followers would be intimately familiar with the charms of this nectar, having tasted it in its purest form in the famed ‘Gujarat model’.

Given the extant fault lines of caste, ethnicity, language, region and religion that criss-cross the nation, Mr. Modi’s ‘Team India’ is clearly a project rather than a reality. Yet, even as a project, it is deeply problematic.

For instance, in the light of the recent events in Gujarat, are Patels and Dalits batting for the same team? Are indebted farmers contemplating suicide and billionaire investors seeking farmland part of the same team? Are Adivasis and mining companies equal members of ‘Team India’?

Furthermore, all teams are hierarchical, with a captain who calls the shots. In Mr. Modi’s re-imagining of the nation as a team, it is obvious who the captain is.

The logic of ‘Team India’

To understand the underlying logic of the Team India project, one must go back to the core ideas of a ‘team’: competition and purpose. Teams in the real world are typically time-bound — they come together for a task or activity, and disband once the task/activity is finished.

As the cementing element of a national identity, however, the team becomes an all-encompassing, permanent condition. Mr. Modi’s repeated invocation of ‘Team India’ communicates a vision of nationhood as a ‘team’ of 125 crore Indians that is in fierce competition for global supremacy with other nations. The task facing this team is nation-building (defined as strengthening the nation-state, not to be confused with the welfare of the poor). It is a task that can never end. Or end only at the level of the individual — with death.

Such a vision of ‘Team India’ demands a complete merger of the nation with the state, in which the citizen, instead of being a rights-bearing political entity with claims on the state, dwindles into a kind of glorified employee who, like any model employee of the 21st century, would put the interests of the team above self-interest (or any other interest). Here, the team’s interest, lest there be any doubt, means national interest.

The flip side of this idea of citizens as members of a national team is that any democratic dissent — or criticism of the captain — signifies ‘bad team player’. A bad team player sabotages the team’s interests, i.e., national interest. This follows naturally from the absolute subordination of citizenship — which entails rights vested in the individual — to the interests of the state. In other words, civil and democratic rights, such as privacy and freedom of expression, hold no importance from the perspective of the team.

If a media organisation was to report on human rights abuses perpetrated by the state, it could be viewed as harming the national interest. Ditto for non-governmental organisations (NGO). Not surprisingly, the Modi government has been far more draconian in its crackdown on rights-based NGOs compared to its predecessor.

From ‘Team India’ to ‘Team Modi’

The term ‘Team India’ first gained currency as a moniker for India’s national cricket team. Among Indian cricket fans, it was a mode of identification that evoked intense patriotic, and frequently jingoistic, passions. But ‘Team India’ in this case referred to a specific team of 11 skilled Indians who had come together to represent the country in a global competition. It did not comprise the entire population of India; 125 crore Indians might cheer for ‘Team India’, the cricket team. They might wear the team jersey, or paint their faces in the team colours. But they could not themselves participate in Team India’s World Cup campaign. They had no say in the team composition, or choice of captain, or match strategy, nor could they themselves go out and play — for they were not members of ‘Team India’ in reality. They were merely its cheerleaders, and had no illusions about it.

On the other hand, the nation recast as ‘Team India’ reproduces the same structure of patriotic identification but with an added bonus — the delusion of equal participation. Mr. Modi is the captain leading ‘Team India’. The actual ‘team’ here is the Indian state and those with access to, if not control over, its various levers.

All that the 125 crore ‘members’ of this so-called ‘Team India’ can do is cheer the captain and/or obey his instructions. When Mr. Modi asks 125 crore Indians to unite for the cause of ‘Team India’, he is effectively addressing them as their captain, instructing them to contribute their bit to make ‘Team India’ win — by offering it their lands, surrendering their rights, giving up their subsidies, all for the greater glory of ‘Team India’. It is essentially a top-down, anti-democratic project.

Finally, the very nature of team-centric discourse is such that the captain, sooner or later, becomes a metonym for the team. It remains to be seen whether this invocation of nationhood as a team catches on in public discourse. If it does, and the term ‘Team India’ as used by Mr. Modi achieves popular currency, it would be natural for it become interchangeable with Team Modi.

India must encourage entry of Renminbi into IMF’s SDR: Arvind Subramanian

India should encourage the entry of China’s currency into the International Monetary Fund’s basket of Special Drawing Rights (SDR), and support the internationalisation of the Renminbi, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said on Monday.

“India must support the entry of the Renminbi into the IMF’s basket of SDRs. As the currency becomes more international, the more open it will become to the world. At the same time, the less China will be able to manipulate it, which is to India's advantage,” Mr. Subramanian said during a lecture titled “Reassessing ‘Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China’s Economic Dominance”.

In addition, India’s strategic objective should be to strengthen multilateral institutions and use them to pressure China, Mr. Subramanian said. In particular, he added, India should try to make the Asian Infrastructure Bank as universal as possible - especially convincing the US to join - to counter China’s regional interests through the bank. He termed the US' refusal to join the Bank a “huge mistake”.

Regarding any common ground between India and China, the CEA said that the two countries shared an interest in pushing a global agenda for the cleaning of coal. “Both countries predominantly use coal, and should push for a global initiative to clean coal,” he said.

He added that India has some things to learn from China. “India should seek to emulate the Chinese model of development that is based on exports and building reserves. The power of $3.5-4 trillion of reserves is not to be sneezed at,” he said.

Against the background of the speculation, sparked by the recent crash in Chinese stock markets, that China’s ascendancy is at an end, Mr. Subramanian said that his view is that the country will pull out of the current trend and return to an upswing. “China has the resources, the political will, and a desire for wealth, power and stability deep rooted in its DNA to enable it to cushion this transition to the best of its abilities. If you take a long view of Chinese history, the exception has been a Chinese decline, the rule has been of a Chinese ascendancy in global markets,” he said.

The Chinese transition, he said, was one of a huge shifting of resources from manufacturing to services. “The Chinese model based on manufacturing and exports is running out of steam and the Chinese leadership knows that. There is a shift to services. However, they have such a large surplus of manufacturing capacity that the resource reallocation will be very painful,” he said.

The question, the CEA said, was if China will be able to politically withstand the pain caused by this turmoil.

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